The Sanctuary is located on the grounds of the private United World College. Even if you don’t want inside the Sanctuary building (tip:  there are no birds inside nor windows to allow you to see birds outside, but there is a restroom), to not be trespassing you need to stop at the Security office (aka the Welcome Center). It is on your left as you enter the campus. Let them know you’re going up to the Sanctuary. Security staff would prefer not to have the public wandering around campus, so a prudent interaction is simply to tell them you want to visit the Sanctuary, and accept a key to the building if offered, rather than explain you’re just going to be birdwatching outside. Going to the Sanctuary, stick to the road from the Security office (Campus Drive, or CR-A7), taking the right fork past the soccer fields where Armand Hammer Drive splits off left. Go past the Old Stone Hotel (it’ll be on your left) and then take the left fork where Pool Street splits off right. The Sanctuary parking area is less than 0.4 miles from the Security office. A short sidewalk-like ADA-compliant path winds up through ponderosa pines to the Sanctuary building. 

The Sanctuary lies above the heavily visited public hot springs on Gallinas Creek but is a peaceful place nonetheless. In direct-line distance, the Skating Pond hotspot on the creek, upstream from the hot springs, is less than a mile southwest, whereas the Sebastian Canyon hotspot is even closer to the east. This is a small, locationally distinct hotspot; though birders may be including in their lists species observed on the way from the Welcome Center to the Sanctuary, in fact, the Sanctuary is pretty much pure ponderosa forest, a different habitat from that in the lower campus. It is informative if eBirders include in their checklist comments a description of where they birded. Possibly due to the entry restrictions, this has been a very lightly birded hotspot. Despite many bird feeders dotting the campus, UWC faculty, staff, and students are apparently not eBird users.

The Dwan Light Sanctuary (DLS) was designed by Virginia Dwan (conceptualizer and funder), Charles Ross (solar spectrum artist), and Wingert (planner-architect) and opened on October 25, 1996.

The Dwan Light Sanctuary is located on the United World College (UWC-USA) campus. While the campus is closed to the general public (except for announced events), guests may visit the Dwan Light Sanctuary by first stopping at the Welcome Center where campus security officers will provide directions and an access key. Because the prisms are most impressive during full sunlight, the optimal times to visit are late morning to early afternoon. There is no charge, although donations are accepted at the Welcome Center.